With the popularity of holistic medicine on the upswing, more and more students are willing to go for careers in the alternative medicine professions, like acupuncture. Huge medical expenses and invasive procedures leave deep scars on the patient and are common reasons why people are increasingly moving towards acupuncture. But before we move on to how to become an acupuncturist, lets us find out what acupuncture is all about.
What does an acupuncturist do?
The profession involves stimulating specific parts of the body, usually by inserting needles in the skin. Traditional Chinese medicine frequently employs acupuncture as one of the means of treatment.
How effective is acupuncture
There are enough evidences to suggest that acupuncture can be effective against a wide range of pain, especially which are chronic in nature like low-back pain, neck pain, and osteoarthritis/knee pain. It can even be used for treating conditions like tension headaches and migraine headaches; the frequency of attacks is found to come down dramatically after the treatment.
Becoming an acupuncture specialist: The roadmap
Now that we are familiar with what an acupuncturist is and its effectiveness, let’s get down to the serious business of becoming an acupuncture specialist:
- Get in touch with acupuncture students, graduates, and professionals: They are the best people to guide you how to become an acupuncturist and can give you useful insights about the profession as a whole. Like from the students you may get a fair idea about the work load, the curriculum, course fees, etc. Professionals meanwhile can pass on their invaluable experience of treating patients and interesting anecdotes.
- Complete a graduation from an undergraduate college: For becoming an acupuncture specialist, it is not mandatory to be from a science background. Even students with psychology, English, computer science, or sociology majors are qualified to pursue acupuncture courses. Many institutes may not even insist upon having an undergraduate degree, but if you have one you are likely to be at an advantage.
- Find out whether acupuncture is legal in your state: Before you can think of making a living out of acupuncture, make sure that it is legal where you want to practice it. Read what the law says about the profession and if there are any restrictions. Different states have different license agreements and it is essential that you take them into consideration when pursuing acupuncture.
- Get into an accredited acupuncture college: In the US there are around 50 Accredited Acupuncture Colleges where you can pursue certification in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (AOM), known in common parlance as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Though AOM includes a wide spectrum of practices like Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, and Asian Bodywork, different colleges have different emphasis and consequently the course structure will differ. The duration of acupuncture courses is 3 to 4 years; students can even take Masters Degree courses in Acupuncture and/or Oriental medicine.
- Become Board Certified: Being Board Certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) is essential for getting recognized as qualified acupuncture specialist; most states demand this qualification and lacking it may invite immediate revocation of the practice permit. It however is to be noted that the state of California has its own state board exam.
Medical acupuncture courses available for students:
Certification and certificate program in acupunctureis available for acupuncture students. The certification to practice acupuncture can be earned by passing the certification exam conducted by the national certifying body. However students must have a master’s degree or other equivalent degree in acupuncture and/or Oriental medicine before they can qualify the process. Acupuncture also offers a number of post-graduate courses as well. The maters program usually takes 3-4 years and includes around 2,500 hours of class-work.
Program coursework
The course of an acupuncturist would look like this:
- Principles of traditional Chinese medicine
- Pressure points and meridian pathways
- Dermal and neural anatomy
- Needle manipulation styles
- Musculo-skeletal evaluation
- Chinese herbology
- Pharmacology of injectable medications
- Moxibustion (burning herbs near acupuncture points)
